I’ve Made Up My Mind, Have You??
Happy New Year!! I hope your holidays were amazing. Personally, I’m looking forward to a new year!
First, I need to apologize for being MIA for nearly a year. Blame it on health issues and a diagnosis that a doctor failed to impart to me or act upon about 5 years ago. It led to losing the use of one hand. We are hoping the nerve damage isn’t permanent, but only time will tell. Meanwhile… Let’s get back into our homemaking blog.
I saw a post today that I’m not sure who said it (and a google search shows it quoted VERY often in 2016. It appears it was originally said by blogger Joshua Becker). It said, “A goal without a plan is just wishful thinking.” Isn’t that the truth! Rob Thompson of 10th Human Consulting added: “Further, you must act upon the plan, because having a plan simply isn’t enough. You have to log the miles.”
I also saw something on Dave Ramsey’s IG account today and reposted it. It says,
“Set written goals with a time limit.
“Break them down into weekly and daily activities.
“Read them every morning.
“Watch what happens.”
With t
Here are a few of my goals:
THIS BLOG
While my daughter was here for Christmas, we went through some ideas for this blog. I haven’t blogged for about a year due to some serious hand issues. The first surgery was done late in October. The next one will be coming up in the next few months. Meanwhile, I want to get as much ready for that down-time as possible.
My goal is to restart my blog and get as many posts done ahead of time as possible. We have already penciled in post ideas for January and how to execute them. Of course, that’s only January. I don’t anticipate having the next surgery in January (or at least I hope not). But it will be good to get into a routine of working ahead EVERY DAY.
PLAN:
Blog or at least post to Instagram and Facebook more often. Daily when possible, even if it’s short. Get as far ahead as possible, while leaving room for spontaneous blogs and posting.
HOME
I used to have a big historic house. Now I have a small condo. I just don’t have room for everything like I once did. I’m constantly moving things, arranging and re-arranging. Because I just don’t have room for it all.
I have emotional attachments to things that bring back memories or are from loved family members that are gone. I love family history and would love to research my family tree more. I lost my more recent family tree information when my old computer died, but I’d love to get it going again. And scrapbooking. My daughter and I used to love to scrapbook. I am seriously behind in scrapbooking. My hand issues have made working on it impossible for many years, but all those photos hold wonderful memories for me and I’d like to get them all in scrapbooks. I have family historical documents, some dating back to the mid 1800’s. I’d like to figure out what to do with all those.
Why did I tell you all that? Because I need to come to some decisions. My daughter has NO DESIRE to have any of those things. She doesn’t want photos or the genealogy research or historical documents. Somewhere along the line in the past 15 years since she left home she has decided that all that is clutter and she doesn’t want any of it. NONE OF IT. Everything I own I can now look at and say, “does it bring ME pleasure? Do I want to use it or display it? If not, it can go. She doesn’t want it.
So, that being said, 2019 is the year I’m going to be doing what they are now calling “death cleaning.” Some may say this is the same as when people “downsized” years ago, but it is WAY more than that. It’s going through every nook, cranny, piece of paper, drawer, cabinet, closet, and even the rafters and getting rid of anything that you aren’t using NOW, doesn’t fit in anymore, doesn’t have a purpose, etc. It’s not being a minimalist but keeping only what is useful. That usefulness may be emotional usefulness or physical usefulness. Everything that is left will be organized in a way that is easily accessible and enjoyed.
PLAN:
Incorporate at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour a day, working on this endeavor. I mean every day, Monday through Saturday. Six days a week. I know there will be days I can’t for whatever reason, but I want to keep that to a minimum. So that’s my plan. Today I went through a couple drawers in my bedroom. I’m dreading the closets…
DAUGHTER
This year my daughter plans to move. We worked on decluttering her house before my surgery. I guess it was way more than decluttering. It was SERIOUS purging. She doesn’t want to take much with her when she moves. She wants to start over. I don’t think she even wants to take with her the things of her dad’s that meant so much to her for so long. But he’s been gone 22+ years now. She said something over Christmas that she still misses him every day. She never said that before. But I think she’s come to the point where she realizes that the things don’t make him more real. They aren’t going to bring him back. I think from her comment that the “stuff” may even be a bitter memory. So, I think it’s all going.
Don’t worry. She is a decisive person that doesn’t regret decisions she’s made. Even if they weren’t the best choice, she lives with whatever decisions she made and doesn’t mourn over them. So, I won’t be moving a bunch of stuff to my house “just in case” she changes her mind. She won’t. She’s been this way since a child.
PLAN:
Get together with my daughter to determine if we are going to do the rest of her house before or after my next surgery. Then schedule the dates to work on it. What’s left is the BIG stuff: furniture that’s outlived its usefulness or was damaged when ALL her water pipes burst earlier this year, pull carpeting, the storage areas. Order the dumpster so it can all be done in one fell swoop. We might need a couple strong men to help us. We’ll see. We’ve done so much by ourselves already.
CALENDARING
I miss paper calendars (I have them all the way back to 1974, I think, missing only this year when I tried all electronic). For me, I need to write it and see it in writing. I need to physically check it off. I have four – count’m – FOUR – apps for notes, chores, lists, and the calendar app with reminders. And I still miss things. So, this year I’m going back to a paper calendar.
I searched and searched for a paper calendar that had areas for daily “must do’s,” weekly “to do this week” and monthly sections for goals, important days, etc. I looked at a lot of them. Some were REALLY nice, but upwards of $40. And those were thick. I don’t want to cart a thick notebook around with me everywhere.
The one I got is a compromise. It’s about the size of a piece of paper. I was used to that size the years I was in business. It is a bit thicker, though. It has thick, hard covers. Otherwise, it’s what I was used to before. It won’t fit in my purse and I no longer use a briefcase style purse. So, I will need to carry it or start using a much bigger purse. But I’m content with it and it was only $7.99 at Aldi’s. Score!!
PLAN:
Return to using a paper calendar. Review it every morning and evening. Keep it open to see EVERY DAY. Just like when I was at the office or when I had my in-home accounting business.
SCHEDULING
I have a love-hate relationship with smart phones. What a blessing that I can pick it up and ask a question or search my calendar for my next dentist appointment (since you have to make them nearly a year in advance I forget when they are). And having the grocery and other shopping lists on the phone are a GAME CHANGER!! The ability to text quickly to people and get texts is just amazing. But once I pick up that phone I meander over to Facebook and Instagram and get lost for a while – EVERY TIME. Then I check the news feed and read more nonsense (who REALLY needs to read the 4, 6 or more articles a day about the royal family that’s in the feed anyway?????).
PLAN:
Use my new paper calendar to schedule my days better in 2019. Schedule housework. Schedule the purging sessions. Schedule blogging. Schedule correspondence time. I can even schedule dedicated Facebook and Instagram time and not be sucked in when I should be doing something else. I think the younger new term for this is called “time blocking.” That’s the plan.
I have to tell you, this one’s going to be HARD!! I start my day doing online devotions followed by a devotional post that I do for a closed group on FB. Maybe I NEED to schedule 15 minutes of FB browsing time every morning. I know I’m going to do it. Might as well Schedule it. I’m just being realistic.
What about you?
Do you have goals with plans to do them? Do you have any BIG plans that require breaking them into smaller steps that need to be planned out? What holds you back from setting goals or fulfilling them?